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Big Plans Didn’t Take Flight

When your ideal composition is behind a high security fence, step back, try your best, and experiment a bit with some processing techniques. After a long day of mountain biking in Grand Junction I had big plans to scout out some interesting compositions at the nearby airport. I was sure the Book Cliffs were going to make the perfect backdrop for a couple small single engine airplanes. Obviously I didn’t consider the fact that regional airports have higher security protocols. I wasn’t getting anywhere near the aircraft, let alone getting on the runway. I switched to plan B….slap on a zoom, set up on a pile of rocks, and test out CS4s HDR capabilities. I don’t have any conclusive insights about CS4 other than what you see here. I still feel more comfortable driving the sliders in Photomatix.

Justin, the image turned out great and the backdrop is amazing.
I also seen how photoshop in 5 renders hdr. It’s not very surreal but that could be a good thing. And in CS5 it renders extremely fast. Their are other plugins that can tonemap or make adjustments such as nik as you demonstrate from time to time also Topaz which I like to use in my workflow. Topaz detail is the one I use and like.